There are many misconceptions about creativity. We treat it as this mythical creature that can only be engaged with after a series of fantastical trials in some pixie-infested forest. Some people will even get high to summon their inner creativity!
The truth is, we all flex our creative muscles everyday in the form of language and conversation. We construct witty sentences, ironic jokes, or clever comebacks. These are creative outlets too.
Another common trope often parroted by so-called non-creatives (stop saying you鈥檙e not creative!) is that creatives are whimsical, chaotic, and eccentric. Supposedly, creative endeavours are the antithesis of logical endeavours. But logic and creativity are not on opposite ends of the spectrum; they鈥檙e not even on the same spectrum.
In fact, I don鈥檛 know a single creative who flashes their brushes about like a wistful wizard hoping to conjure audience-captivating spells. But personal anecdotes rarely make for solid evidence.
You don鈥檛 have to do much reading to discover that the most successful creators are extremely methodical with a strong emphasis on planning and research. That鈥檚 because creative pursuits are no different to any other pursuit where well-researched planning makes up for half the work.
This is also why many creatives will emphasise the importance of the brief, the value of collaborating closely with clients, and the power of focussing on solving problems.
Oscar-winning Director Bong Joon-Ho has always been quite candid about how much planning he puts into his work. His cowriters and researchers will spend many months planning, interviewing, and taking reference photos so that he can conceptualise his ideas more cohesively before finally putting pen to paper.
As a result, he found that the second half of Parasite came together very quickly. 鈥淚t was kind of like when you have water draining in the sink.鈥 He elaborates: 鈥淎t first, it鈥檚 very quiet and you barely notice the waterline descending; but near the end, you start to hear a gurgling as everything rushes down the drain. Writing Parasite聽was kind of like that.鈥
There's a reason artists do a sketch first. Planning is such a critical part of any creative process and that's far from subjective.
There鈥檚 no denying that to be successful in your creative endeavours, planning is critical. And nobody has ever called planning subjective.
In French cooking, they have a phrase for this practice: mise en place. It literally translates as 鈥渆verything in its place鈥. Why wouldn鈥檛 you? With a busy evening of orders ahead, you鈥檇 want to have your ingredients chopped and prepared ahead of time, and indeed, many kitchens operate in this way. This allows the chef to perform their artistry without having to worry about any logistical problems.
Most people will agree that great creative work begins with a compelling concept that everybody can work towards. A concept that captures the imagination of creatives as well as the audience they鈥檙e speaking to.
But strong concepts tend to come via thorough research. You need to ask who your audience is, why they should care about what you have to say, and what tugs at their heartstrings.
At this point, you may accuse me of skirting the question. Surely, the visual aspect of a painting or photograph is subjective? Well, that depends how you look at it.
If I鈥檓 being honest, anything we influence or interpret is subjective. After all, we鈥檙e human. It鈥檚 literally impossible for any of us to perform in an objective way, and we really do try.
But there isn鈥檛 a single person out there who can reliably detach themselves from all the presupposed ideas they鈥檝e picked up throughout their lives. If anyone insists they can, I鈥檇 be wary as they鈥檝e likely lost their soul a long time ago and are no longer human.
Our brains are supple and malleable. It鈥檚 one of the defining features of our species. But that also means we鈥檙e easily influenced and will naturally pass that influence on in everything we do.
Every creative out there must contend with the idea that once they release their work, it is no longer theirs; it belongs to the public.
This also applies to the viewer. It鈥檚 one of the reasons why every creative out there must contend with the idea that once they release their work, it is no longer theirs; it belongs to the public.
It doesn鈥檛 matter what their intention was or what message they were trying to convey. The audience will find their own value in it.
Take the most infamous unsaid dialogue in cinema at the end of Lost in Translation. Everyone has their own theory which would undoubtedly align with their own worldview and general philosophy.
Director Sofia Coppola admits there was no line. It鈥檚 just that. Unspoken words between two lovers. But our supple minds can鈥檛 handle that, so we fill the blank spaces however we want.
Now I鈥檓 going to make you wary because creativity doesn鈥檛 have to be subjective 颅鈥 yes, I鈥檓 human and I鈥檓 fine, don鈥檛 worry. What I mean is that we can still build an objective framework with which to dissect creative works.
When it comes to visuals, Gestalt鈥檚 principles of design have been the foundation since the 1920s. Since then, our understanding of what makes objectively good visuals has developed further.
There are composition best practices, colour best practices, and something that I focus on a lot is visual balance. Balance can be utilised in a range of forms and it鈥檚 relatively easy to develop an eye for. At the very least, anyone can see when something isn鈥檛 quite symmetrical.
Take this lovely image of the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco. Everything seems fine but take a closer look and you notice that the second support strut doesn鈥檛 quite sit perfectly centre in the gap of the first one. How much more satisfying would this image have been if the photographer stepped to the right a little?
But balance isn鈥檛 always so easy to detect. This image by Natalia Oskanova might seem imbalanced at first. The subject is barely visible and much of the foreground is dominated by the flowing veil. There鈥檚 only a small corner where you can actually see something other than textiles.
But everything about this image points towards the subject. I鈥檝e highlighted the lines that guide our eye to the bride which creates balance.
Sometimes, balance doesn鈥檛 always refer to elements within a frame on the x- and y-axis but the z-axis too. This directly relates to within Gestalt鈥檚 principles of design.
This image by Thirawatana Phaisalratana has very strong foreground and background balance. I don鈥檛 think this image carries the same sense of balance if the background is more bland. But the colour and textured ruffles of the nets give the background just as much visual interest as our subject in the foreground thus creating visual balance.
Practically every image will feature a background and a foreground. But not every image will draw such a clear distinction between the two. When you choose an image that does, you鈥檙e making it easier for viewers to decode the image and therefore creating a stronger visual impact.
Subject separation is another key aspect you should always been considering when searching for photos as it鈥檚 not something that can be easily fixed in post-production.
Seems obvious but you want your hero to stand out. This is why many portraits are shot in a studio where you can control the background and lighting more easily. But that doesn鈥檛 mean you can鈥檛 find good hero images in more natural settings.
Compare these two shots. Both have pretty busy backgrounds, but one has made a conscious effort to separate the subject and the other hasn鈥檛. This is something to look for when whittling down your image selections.
By using a large aperture and adding a vignette, the model objectively stands out more and isn’t lost in the busy background.
As you can see, there are many ways in which we can assess visuals from an objective point of view. By doing so, you鈥檙e not only making smarter choices with your image selection, but you鈥檒l also be able to make your case more clearly for sign off too.
There are many more examples of this where we can objectively assess the merits of an image and it鈥檚 something we鈥檒l continue to discuss on the 17吃瓜在线 blog.
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Do you agree or disagree with what I said here? Let鈥檚 take the discussion to social where you can tell me how wrong I am!